Bourque, Canadiens too much for Lightning's defence

Montreal Canadiens forward Rene Bourque (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game 2 of the first round playoff series at Tampa Bay Times Forum on Apr 18, 2014. (Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)

Which had the longer odds for the Montreal Canadiens: scoring on the power-play or a pair of goals by Habs forward Rene Bourque?

Both have been infrequent lately, but because the Canadiens got both Friday night in a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, they now hold a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Atlantic Division semifinal series. They head back to Montreal for Game 3 Sunday and Game 4 Tuesday.

The Habs had gone 0-for-23 on the power play to end the regular season and were 0-for-2 in Game 1. They couldn’t score in the first period Friday during a double minor for high-sticking to Tampa star Steven Stamkos (though the Habs were called for too many men during that stretch).

But David Desharnais opened the scoring with the man advantage early in the second when he won a faceoff and deflected a shot by P.K. Subban off the left shoulder of Tampa goaltender Anders Lindback to give the Canadiens the lead in a game that had